RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  GPA/M/35 
20 January 2009 
 
 (09-0235) 
Committee on Government Procurement  
  
 
MINUTES OF THE FORMAL MEETING OF 9 DECEMBER 2008 
 
Chairman:  Mr. Nicholas Niggli (Switzerland)
 
  
1. The Chairman
 said that in preparation for the meeting, delegations had received an airgram 
(WTO/AIR/3293 and Corr.1, dated 26 November 2008 and 2 December 2008, respectively) setting 
out the proposed agenda for the meeting, an d an Annotated Agenda (Job No. 9345, dated 
1 December 2008).  The agenda, as outlined in the airgram, was as follows: 
 A. Requests for observer stat us:  Bahrain and New Zealand; 
 
 B. Accessions.  As specified in the Annot ated Agenda, this item would include the 
taking of a decision on the accession of Chinese Taipei, based on the draft decision and final offer circulated in GPA/ACC/TPKM/1, and a review of the state of play regarding other pending accessions; 
 
 C. Implementation of the Agreement – notificat ion of thresholds, statistical reporting, the 
review of national implementi ng legislation, and consultati ons and dispute settlement; 
  D. Modifications to the Appendices to the Agreement;  
 E. Negotiations under Article XXIV:7; 
  F. Annual review of the implementation and operation of  the Agreement and Annual 
Report to the General Council;  and 
  G. Other business. 
 
2. Under the last item, "Other business", the Chai rman proposed that the Committee confirm the 
dates for its proposed meetings in 2009. 
3. The Committee adopted
 the above agenda, taking into consideration the Chairman's 
suggestion regarding other business. 
A. REQUESTS FOR OBSERVER STATUS :  BAHRAIN AND NEW ZEALAND  
4. The Chairman  recalled that in April and May 2008, respectively, New Zealand and Bahrain 
had applied to participate as observers in  the Committee on Government Procurement.1  A t  i t s  
informal meeting on 29 May 2008, the Committee had ag reed to invite these delegations to observe its 
proceedings on an ad hoc and continuing basis pending a decision of the Committee on their 
observership in the course of the end-of-year formal  meeting.  Since then, Bahrain and New Zealand 
                                                      
1 GPA/W/300, dated 24 April 2008 and GPA/W/301, dated 6 May 2008, respectively. GPA/M/35 
Page 2  
 
  had been attending the informal meetings of the Committee on the agreed basis.  He invited the 
Committee to take a decision on these two requests for observership. 
5. The Committee agreed
 to grant observer status to Bahrain and New Zealand. 
6. The Chairman , on behalf of the Committee, welcomed  Bahrain and New Zealand as observers 
of the Committee. 
7. The representative of Bahrain  thanked GPA Parties and the Secretariat for facilitating its 
formal admission as an observer.  He said that hi s delegation looked forward to participating in the 
Committee's future meetings. 
8. The representative of New Zealand  thanked GPA Parties and the Secretariat for facilitating 
her delegation's official admission as an observer.  Her delegation had attende d the informal meetings 
and workshops since May 2008 and had already gained useful insights into the workings of the GPA.  
The value of government procurement markets worldwide was substan tial and her delegation 
recognized the potential benefits accession to th e Agreement could deliver for New Zealand's 
exporters.  New Zealand's government procurement regime was already very open, transparent and 
straightforward.  Her delegation welcomed the pr ogress made in the negotiations on the revised GPA 
text to capture these same qualities.  In terms of market access, New Zealand would be watching with 
interest to see whether a balance of ambitions finall y settled.  Given the nature  of its own regime, an 
ambitious outcome would be instrumental in de monstrating the value of GPA membership for 
New Zealand.  Her delegation looked forward to ga ining further insights on the GPA as a means of 
informing New Zealand's decision on wh ether to accede to the Agreement. 
9. The representative of the United States  welcomed Bahrain's and New Zealand's decisions to 
become observers and stated that she looked fo rward to their initiating their accessions to the 
Agreement, at an appropriate time. 
10. The representative of the Saudi Arabia  welcomed Bahrain and New Zealand as additional 
observers to the Committee on Government Procurement. 
B. ACCESSIONS  
1. Decision regarding the accession of Chinese Taipei 
11. The Chairman , referring to the draft decision and final offer that had been circulated2, invited 
the Committee to take a decision on Chinese Taipei 's accession to the Agreement on Government 
Procurement. 
12. The Committee adopted  a decision providing for Chinese Ta ipei's accession to the Agreement  
on the basis of the terms that had been proposed (GPA/96, dated 9 December 2008). 
13. The Chairman , on behalf of the Committee, congratulated Chinese Taipei for the very 
significant and positive step that it had taken.  Ac cession to the GPA, for which Chinese Taipei had 
first applied in March 1995, was a historic and path-breaking step of which the delegation of 
Chinese Taipei should be very proud.  Chinese Taipei 's accession was also a historic milestone for the 
Committee and the Agreement on Government Procurem ent.  He thanked Chinese Taipei itself, in 
addition to all GPA Parties and observers, for the ex cellent cooperation that they had extended to him 
in his efforts to facilitate this very significan t achievement.  Chinese Taipei's accession was an 
extremely important development which augured  well for the future of the Agreement. 
                                                      
 2 GPA/ACC/TPKM/1, dated 28 November 2008.  GPA/M/35 
 Page 3 
 
 
  14. The representative of Chinese Taipei  thanked the Chairman for his leadership in facilitating 
his delegation's accession to the Agreement.  He recalled that, in the course of Chinese Taipei's 
accession to the WTO, Chinese Taipei had committed it self to join the GPA.  Since becoming a WTO 
Member, it had made continuous efforts to honour this commitment.  During the progress of the 
negotiations to joining the GPA, Chinese Taipei invested great ener gy and walked the extra mile to 
overcome many obstacles, which had led to today's r esult.  He thanked the Chairman, all GPA Parties 
and observers, and the Secretariat for their very c onstructive efforts and cooperation in facilitating the 
accession process.  His delegation looked forward to pl aying an active role in the future activities of 
the Committee. 
15. The Deputy Director-General , Mr. Rufus Yerxa, speaking on behalf of the Director-General, 
congratulated Chinese Taipei for the decision that ha d been taken.  Chinese Taipei's accession was not 
only a very significant step for the Agreement on Government Procurement, but also for Chinese Taipei itself.  It further advanced th e important principles of transparency, openness, 
efficiency and value for money in government procurement markets.  He recognized that 
Chinese Taipei's accession had required intensive effo rts on the part of various persons, including the 
Chairman, the delegation of Chinese Taipei, and the representatives of other Parties and observers.  
Chinese Taipei's accession represented an histor ic milestone for the Committee and for the 
Agreement. 
16. The representative of the United States
 welcomed Chinese Taipei's accession to the GPA as 
the culmination of many years of hard work.  Sh e further congratulated Chinese Taipei on fulfilling its 
WTO accession commitment to become a GPA Party.  Her delegation appreciated Chinese Taipei's 
commitment to GPA accession as demonstrated both by the presence on that day of a high level 
delegation from its capital and by the efforts that had been required to complete the accession process.  
Her delegation was convinced that the implementation of the GPA would result in a more efficient, 
competitive and cost-effective procurement system in Chinese Taipei and new trade opportunities for 
its business community.  Her delegation looked forward to Chinese Taipei's timely ratification of the 
GPA and to the day, in the very near future, when  it would take its place as a GPA Party.  She also 
expressed her delegation's appreciati on for the hard work of the Chairman, the Secretariat and all 
Parties in bringing this accession to a positive conclusi on.  It was an important step for the Committee 
as this was the first accession in many years and th e United States was optimistic that other accessions 
would soon follow. 
17. The representative of the European Communities  warmly welcomed the accession of 
Chinese Taipei to the Agreement on Government Proc urement.  Expansion of the GPA's membership 
was a key objective of the European Communities,  as it created further business opportunities for all 
concerned, guaranteed transparent and non-discrim inatory procurement procedures, and ensured a 
level playing field for the Parties to the Agreemen t.  Her delegation believed that this accession was a 
clear sign of Chinese Taipei's desire to pursue deep er trade relations within the WTO framework and 
would provide for new and improved market access opportunities for businesses in both the 
European Communities and Chinese Taipei.  She hoped that the accession of Chinese Taipei would 
pave the way for the further expansion of the GPA's membership and that other WTO Members 
currently in the accession process would follow the exam ple that had been set and join the Agreement 
soon. 
18. The representative of Canada  welcomed Chinese Taipei to the GPA and thanked the 
Chairman, the Secretariat and all GPA Parties for the hard work that had made this possible. 
19. The representative of Switzerland  welcomed Chinese Taipei to the GPA and thanked the 
Chairman and all GPA Parties for their hard work.  He said that this accession showed that there was 
always a way where there was a will.  It also re presented a useful contribution toward bringing the 
negotiations on the revision of the GPA to a good end. GPA/M/35 
Page 4  
 
  20. The representative of Israel
 welcomed Chinese Taipei as a new Party to the GPA and 
expressed its satisfaction with the completion of the accession procedure, which had required several 
years of hard work.  He thanked the Chairman, the Secretariat and all GPA Parties for their efforts and 
said that his delegation was pleased with the agreed  package incorporated in  Chinese Taipei's final 
offer.  Israel considered new procurement opportun ities within the markets of GPA Parties as being of 
great interest to its domestic sector.  Certainl y, this was also the case regarding the accession of 
Chinese Taipei.  In this context, lo cal stakeholders in Israel would be  informed of this important event 
as a very satisfactory outcome.  In general terms, Israel was encouraged by  this positive development 
and was confident that, in taking this decision, the Committee had reaffirmed its ability to deliver 
tangible results and promote the underlying objective of improving the international government 
procurement regime as it was embodied in the GPA.   His delegation hoped that this accession would 
open the door for further accessions and other positive developments in 2009. 
21. The representative of Japan  warmly welcomed Chinese Taipei to the GPA and said that its 
accession would benefit Chinese Taipei itself in addition to GPA Parties.  His delegation believed that international trade in the field of government pr ocurement would increase both in goods and services 
and it looked forward to the entering into force of  the GPA for Chinese Taipei and to working with 
Chinese Taipei as it did in other WTO bodies, with a view to furthering the objectives of the multilateral trading system with respect to government  procurement.  He thanked the Chairman for his 
leadership on this matter, and Parties for their efforts. 
22. The representative of Jordan
 congratulated Chinese Taipei and thanked the Chairman, the 
Secretariat and all GPA Parties for the efforts that had brought Chinese Taipei's accession to a 
successful conclusion.  He expressed the hope that Jordan would follow suit. 
23. The representative of Norway  welcomed Chinese Taipei and congratulated it on the 
successful completion of its accession to the GPA.  She thanked the Chairman, the Secretariat and the Committee for the efforts involved in bringing the ne gotiations to a conclusion and looked forward to 
working with Chinese Taipei in the upcoming negotiations. 
24. The representative of Singapore
 welcomed and congratulated Chinese Taipei on becoming a 
GPA Party.  He thanked the Chairman for his efforts in bringing the accession negotiation to a 
successful conclusion.  He looked forward to Chinese Ta ipei's future contributions to the work of the 
Committee. 
25. In response, the representative of Chinese Taipei  said that his delegation highly appreciated 
the encouraging statements made by all delegations  and the Deputy Director-General, Mr. Yerxa, and 
looked forward to working with all Parti es in future meetings of the Committee. 
2. Review of the state of play regarding other pending accessions 
26. The Chairman  said that important progress had also been made with respect to the pending 
accessions of other WTO Members.  The following specific developments were noted: 
 - As Parties would recall, China  had applied for accession to the GPA on 
28 December 2007 and its initial offer had been circulated to Parties on 
7 January 2008.  In addition, China had subm itted its replies to the Checklist of Issues 
for Provision of Information Relating to Accession to the Agreement on Government 
Procurement on 15 September 2008.  Discussi ons dedicated to China's accession had 
taken place during the informal meetings  of the Committee on 20 February and 
24 September 2008.  In the course of these sessions, China had explained aspects of 
its initial offer and had also described the challenges that it was facing in modernizing 
its procurement system and bringing it into eventual compliance with GPA  GPA/M/35 
 Page 5 
 
 
  requirements.  On both occasions, a great d eal of appreciation had been expressed by 
Parties for the seriousness with which China was pursuing its accession.  Requests for improvements in China's initial offer had been received from a number of Parties (specifically, Canada, the European Communities, Japan, Korea, Norway, 
Switzerland and the United States).  Further progress on China's accession would be 
an important priority for the Committee in 2009. 
  - Concerning Jordan , discussions on its GPA accession had been held during the 
informal meetings of the Committee on 20 February, 29 May and 24 September 2008.  
At the meeting of 24 September 2008, an upda ted third revised offer, revised list of 
non-sensitive procurements and re vised version of Jordan's replies to the Checklist of 
Issues had been circulated to all delegations .  In addition, Jordan had referred to the 
efforts that were under way in its capita l to adapt its legisl ative framework and 
procurement systems to GPA requirements.  Parties had expressed their appreciation for these efforts and their hopes that Jord an's accession might be concluded early 
in 2009.  In this context, the conclusion of Jordan's accession should be a significant 
priority for the Committee in 2009. 
  - A further significant development during the year had been the renewed interest that 
had been shown by Moldova  in its pending GPA accession, and the significant new 
documentation that it had provided to this e nd, including an initial coverage offer and 
an updated set of replies to the Checklist of Issues reflecting its new procurement 
legislation.  Particularly in light of th e quality of the documentation that had been 
provided by Moldova, Parties had expressed  keen interest in proceeding with a 
plurilateral discussion on Moldova's accessi on at its earliest convenience.  This 
should be another priority for early in 2009. 
 
 - Concerning other pending accessions before the Committee  which had been 
inactive for some time (i.e. those of Alba nia, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Oman 
and Panama) and accession commitments that had not yet been acted upon  (i.e. 
those of Armenia, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Mongolia, 
Saudi Arabia and the Ukraine), Parties had asked that these be kept under review and 
that the Chairman conti nue to follow up as needed.
3  While no further developments 
concerning these accessions had occurred si nce November, the Chairman indicated 
that he would ask the Secretariat to make a further round of contacts with the relevant 
delegations prior to the Committee's first set of informal meetings in 2009, and would 
report thereon at the meeting. 
 
27. The Committee took note  of these developments and comments. 
C. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT – NOTIFICATION OF THRESHOLDS , STATISTICAL 
REPORTING , THE REVIEW OF NATIONAL IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION , AND CONSULTATIONS 
AND DISPUTE SETTLEMENT  
(a) Thresholds 
28. The Chairman  said that, in accordance with the Decision on Modalities for Notifying 
Threshold Figures in National Currencies4, Canada ;  the European Communities ;  Hong Kong, China ;  
                                                      
3 It was noted that the Ukraine had joined the WTO only on 16 May 2008 and, according to its 
accession protocol, had a year after its  accession before it was expected to  initiate its application process. 
 4 GPA/1, dated 5 March 1996, Annex 3. GPA/M/35 
Page 6  
 
  Japan
;  Norway ;  Singapore ;  Switzerland ;  and the United States  had provided information on their 
threshold figures expressed in national currencies for 2008-2009/10.5 
(b) Statistical Reporting 
 
29. The Chairman  said that, in line with the requirements of Article XIX:5 of the Agreement on 
Government Procurement, Hong Kong, China  had provided its statistical report for 20076 and the 
United States  had provided its statistical reports for 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.7 
30. Further to the Chairman's comment, the representative of the United States  informed the 
Committee that her delegation would make efforts to  deliver the statistical report for 2007 as soon as 
possible next year.  She urged other Parties that  had not yet submitted current statistics, or any 
statistics at all, to do so as soon as possible. 
(c) Review of National Implementing Legislation 
31. The Chairman  recalled that pursuant to Article XXIV :5(b) of the Agreement, Parties were 
required to inform the Committee of any changes in their relevant laws and regulations and in the 
administration of such laws and regulations.  In line with this provision, Japan  had notified a change 
in its national implementing legislation.8 
(d) Consultations and Dispute Settlement 
32. The Chairman  also noted that no matters had been raised during the year under Article XXII 
of the Agreement dealing with c onsultations and dispute settlement. 
33. The Committee took note  of all of the above developm ents and comments concerning the 
implementation of the Agreement. 
D. MODIFICATIONS TO THE AP PENDICES TO THE AGREEMENT  
(a) Modifications that have been certifie d since the meeting of 13 December 2007 
34. The Chairman  said that, since the adoption of the 2007 Annual Report of the Committee9, the 
following proposed modifications had been certified, given that no objections had been made in the 
30-day period or that objections that had been made had subsequently been withdrawn with regard to 
all or some of the specific entities listed in such modifications:  (i) a modification by the 
United States10 which became effective as of 6 November 200811;  and (ii) a modification by Japan12 
                                                      
 5 GPA/W/299/Add.3, dated 7 January 2008;  GPA/W/299/Add.4, dated 29 January 2008;  
GPA/W/299/Add.2, dated 21 December 20 07;  GPA/W/299/Add.5, dated 8 Fe bruary 2008;  GP A/W/299/Add.6, 
dated 6 March 2008;  GPA/W/299, dated 18 December 20 07;  GPA/W/299/Add.7, dated 4 December 2008;  and 
GPA/W/299/Add.1, dated 21 December 2007. 
6 GPA/94, dated 24 November 2008. 
7 GPA/62/Add.4, GPA/70/Add.4, GPA/76/Add.5, GPA/80/Add.5, GPA/84/Add.3, GPA/88/Add.2 and 
GPA/91/Add.1, all dated 18 December 2008.  
8 GPA/37/Add.5, dated 1 April 2008. 
9 GPA/92, dated 13 December 2007. 
 10 GPA/MOD/USA/6, dated 7 October 2008. 
11 WT/Let/635, dated 17 November 2008. 
 12 GPA/MOD/JPN/30, dated 10 June 2008.   GPA/M/35 
 Page 7 
 
 
  which became effective as of 4 December 200813, in the light of the withdrawal14 of an initial 
objection15 by the European Communities. 
35. The representative of Japan  thanked the European Communities for the withdrawal of its 
objections regarding Japan's proposed modification. 
(b) Proposed modifications that remain outstanding 
36. The Chairman  said that, as to outstanding proposed modifications, a number of developments 
were noted in the Annotated Agenda.  The state of  play regarding these modifications would also be 
summarized in the Committee's annual report  to the General Council (GPA/95, dated 
9 December 2008). 
37. The representative of the United States  recalled that her delegation's proposed modification 
concerning the Uranium Enrichment Corporation had been pending for five years.  She urged those 
delegations that had objected to this proposed modi fication to provide a better understanding of what 
their concerns were.  Her delegati on would be happy to answer any questions.  She said further that, 
as had been noted in past Committee discussions, the revised offer from the European Communities 
included a number of changes in its entity lists which were evident when its revised offer was 
compared with its current coverage.  She again requested that the European Communities submit an 
appropriate notification regarding these changes pur suant to Article XXIV:6 as other Parties had done 
in a variety of submissions over the years.  Subsequently, the representatives of Canada  and Japan  
supported the latter request. 
38. Continuing, the representative of Canada  said that, with respect to Canada's outstanding 
proposed modification, it had not received any addi tional questions during the year.  She requested 
that the outstanding objections be withdrawn as soon as possible. 
39. The representative of the European Communities  thanked the delegation of the United States 
for the opportunity to clarify the Communities' proposed course of action.  According to her delegation's understanding, there was a very importa nt distinction to be made between, on the one 
hand, a routine notification with relation to the m onitoring of the existing Agreement and, on the other 
hand, an offer that was submitted in the framework of the coverage negotiatio ns.  The list which had 
been included in her delegation's revised offer obviousl y was an example of the latter – i.e. an input to 
the renegotiation of Parties' coverage commitments.  This was a completely different matter from a 
routine notification. 
40. The representative of Japan
 said that his delegation had some comments and reports on 
ongoing efforts regarding the modification issue.  Firs t, with regard to the East Japan Rail Company, 
Central Japan Railway Company and West Japan Ra ilway Company, it was his delegation's sincere 
understanding and strong hope that the outstanding objections would be wit hdrawn by the relevant 
Parties as soon as possible.  Second, with regard to  the Railway Construction Public Corporation and 
Corporation for Advanced Transport and Technol ogy, his delegation would like to report that 
consultations with the Parties that had objected were  continuing.  Third, with reference to the National 
Aerospace Laboratory, his delegation had received questions from the United States and the European 
Communities and were working on the responses, wh ich would be submitted as soon as possible.  As 
to the Japan Small and Medium Enterprise Corpor ation, Japan Regional Development Corporation 
and Urban Development Corporation, as noted in the Annotated Agenda, in November, Japan had 
provided responses to the European Communities' add itional questions.  His de legation hoped that the 
                                                      
13 WT/Let/637/Corr.1, dated 18 December 2008. 
14 GPA/MOD/JPN/33, dated 4 December 2008. 
15 GPA/MOD/JPN/31, dated 1.July 2008. GPA/M/35 
Page 8  
 
  European Communities could consider its res ponses as soon as possible and could eventually 
withdraw its objections.  Finally, regarding the Un ited States' request to the European Communities 
for a notification, Japan understood the point that had been made by the delegation of the European Communities regarding the two possible approaches ;  however, he also understood that what was 
being requested was the following of the procedures in Article XXIV:6, which had been followed by 
all Parties.  He hoped that the European Communitie s could make a notificati on under this procedure. 
41. In response to the comments by the delegation of Japan regarding the outstanding 
modifications, the representative of the European Communities
 said that her delegation had recently 
received some responses from Japan to the questi ons that had been posed.  Her delegation was 
looking at the responses and hoped to be able to fi nd a satisfactory solution.  On the other hand, her 
delegation looked forward to receiving Japan's answ ers to the questions it  had posed on another 
notification.  In response to Japan's comment on th e perceived need for the European Communities to 
notify the proposed changes in its entity lists, she refe rred to the answer that she had already given;  
moreover, her delegation stood ready to have a general de bate within the framework of the Committee 
on how notifications were handled by each GPA Pa rty and the extent to which some GPA Parties 
which were attempting to give less ons to others had actually fulfilled their own commitments in this 
respect. 
42. The representative of Korea  requested that Canada withdraw  its objection to Korea's pending 
modification.  The delegation of Korea was ready to  respond to any questions that Canada and/or the 
Committee might have on this issue. 
43. Responding to Korea, the representative of Canada  indicated that her delegation required 
additional time to study the proposed modification and might also seek supplementary information in 
its consultations with Korea.  He r delegation hoped that the outstanding issues could be resolved in 
the near future. 
44. The Committee took note  of the above developments and comments concerning modifications 
to the Appendices to the Agreement. 
E. NEGOTIATIONS UNDER ARTICLE XXIV :7 
 (a) Coverage 
45. The Chairman  noted that, throughout the year, each of the meeting weeks had had a focus on 
coverage.  Broadly, this work had had two aspects:  first , the Committee had kept under review, in a 
plurilateral format, the state of the b ilateral coverage ne gotiations;  and second , an opportunity had 
been provided for discussion of the horizontal coverage issues.  With regard to the first aspect, namely 
the bilateral coverage negotiations, initial offers  from all but three GPA Parties had been circulated 
prior to or during the meetings held  in October 2007.  In addition, in  the course of the meetings held 
in February 2006, the delegations of Jordan and Chinese Taipei, which were participating in the 
coverage negotiations, had c onfirmed that the offers that they had circulated to delegations in the 
course of their negotiations on accession to the curr ent Agreement should also be considered as their 
offers in the coverage negotiations.  The initial o ffer of the Netherlands with respect to Aruba had 
been received and circulated that day, which was a very helpful development.  This meant that the 
initial offers of Hong Kong, China;  and Liechtens tein were the only ones that were still to be 
circulated.  As had been emphasized in the inform al session on coverage that morning, the circulation 
of offers by all delegations was vital to the ove rall conclusion of the negotiations.  The Chairman, 
therefore, urged those delegations to circul ate their initial offers in the near future.  GPA/M/35 
 Page 9 
 
 
  46. Continuing, as to revised offers in the coverage negotiations , these had now been received 
from seven delegations:  the United States, Jordan, Japan, Korea, the European Communities, Norway 
and, most recently, Switzerland, regarding which a  detailed discussion had been held in November.  
The Chairman urged those delegations that had not ye t circulated their revised offers to do so early 
in 2009. 
47. Regarding the second aspect of the work on coverage, i.e. the horizontal coverage issues, a 
short discussion had been held on these issues during th e February meeting.  Parties had also taken 
note of a paper circulated by the delegation of Korea (Job No. 3773, dated 26 May 2008) during the 
May meeting, based on an oral statement made by that delegation in the course of the informal session on coverage in December 2008.  The paper dealt wi th certain measures in connection with small and 
medium-size enterprises. 
48. Overall, while there had been useful inputs and progress had certainly been made in the 
course of the year, the successful conclusion to th e coverage negotiations which was desired by all 
participants had so far eluded the Committee.  Nonetheless, Parties had signalled their continued 
commitment to the negotiations, and the tone of th e discussions had been positive, particularly during 
the latter half of the year.  Questions that had been  posed by some Parties regarding the revised offers 
that had been circulated, and the responses that had been given to those queries, had helped to clarify 
positions.  Furthermore, key delegatio ns had made clear that they were continuing to work together 
intensively to find solutions to the outstanding issues.   As had been mentioned in that day's informal 
session on coverage, the suggestion had also been made that elements of the revised offers that had 
been circulated by certain smaller delegations mi ght, in some respects, point the way to a successful 
overall conclusion of the coverage negotiations.  In these circumstances, the Chairman continued to 
hope that a way would be found to enable the Commit tee to conclude the cove rage negotiations in the 
coming year.  He urged all delegations to redouble thei r efforts and to continue to work together in a 
spirit of compromise, remembering that the price of  a continued impasse in the coverage negotiations 
was continued delay in the coming into force of th e revised GPA text – something which, in turn, 
might have adverse implications for future accessions. 
 (b) Issues relating to the provisionally agreed revised GPA text 
49. The Chairman
 said that, with regard to text-related issues, when the provisionally agreed 
revised GPA text had been frozen in December 2006, it had been exp licitly made subject to a legal 
check or rectification exercise in addition to a mutually satisfactory outcome in the coverage 
negotiations.  The legal check, which focused on Articles I through XXI of the text, had been 
successfully completed in November 2007.  Since then , work on the text had focused primarily on the 
ongoing verification of the linguistic equivalency of the English, Fren ch and Spanish versions of the 
revised text of the Agreement, while also enco mpassing further consideration of issues concerning 
Article XXII (Final Provisions) and the related texts illustrating possibilities for giving legal effect to 
the Agreement.  As the latest input to this  exercise, new proposals by Singapore concerning 
Article 10 bis had been incorporated into the text of Ar ticle XXII, together with related proposals by 
the European Communities.  He urged all Parties to  reflect on these proposals, in the hope that the 
outstanding issues could be resolved.  It might be helpful, in this regard, to hold a very informal 
discussion on the issues underlying these proposals,  in a smaller group, on the margins of the 
meetings in February of next year.  Inter ested Parties should also consult bilaterally. 
50. With regard to the linguistic verification exer cise, it seemed fair to  say that the Committee 
had come a long way on this matter thanks to the e fforts of various delegations and the Secretariat 
translators.  The Chairman believed that this ex ercise was close to being completed and could be 
wrapped up early in 2009, particularly if the interest ed delegations could make a final effort to bring 
forward mutually agreed solutions to the outstanding issues. GPA/M/35 
Page 10  
 
  51. A fourth important aspect of the Committee's wo rk on text-related issues, which had also been 
part of the understanding reached in December 2006, was  the development of the two draft 
Committee decisions on arbitration procedures and indicative criteria regarding the removal of 
governmental influence and control.  As had been noted by a Party in the course of the November 
meetings, the two decisions also had a relationship with certain aspects of the coverage negotiations.  
Overall, it would seem that important issues remained  to be resolved regarding both these decisions;  
this was a matter that should engage the attention of Parties in the coming year. 
F. 
ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION OF THE AGREEMENT AND 
ANNUAL REPORT TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL  
52. The Chairman  noted that Article XXIV:7(a) of the Agreement on Government Procurement 
required the Committee to review annually the impl ementation and operation of the Agreement and to 
inform the General Council of developments during th e periods covered by such reviews.  In this 
regard, a draft of the Committee's Annual Report to the General Council covering the period from 
January through December 2008 had been circulat ed by the Secretariat (Job No. 9335, dated 
1 December 2008).  In the course of the informal closing session that morning, the Secretariat had 
distributed an updated version of the report, reflect ing delegations' suggestions  in red-lined format.  
He invited the Committee to discuss and adopt th e report with any necessary further modifications 
and updating. 
53. The Committee adopted  its Annual Report for 2008 (subsequently issued as GPA/95), 
incorporating the modifications to the draft that had been agreed to in the informal closing session that 
morning. 
G. OTHER BUSINESS  
54. Following discussion, the Committee agreed  that the first set of informal meetings in 2009 
would take place in the week of 23-27 February 2009.   In addition, the following dates were pencilled 
in for further meetings during the remainder of the year: 
 - Week 2:  11-15 May 2009; 
 - Week 3:  13-17 July 2009; 
 - Week 4:  6-10 October 2009;  - Week 5:  30 November-4 December 2009.  55. The Chairman
 noted that these dates were without prejudice to any further decision that 
Parties might wish to make as to the nature (form al vs. informal), length and number of Committee 
meetings in 2009.  Furthermore, as had been done  in 2008, the Committee would decide, as it went 
along, whether a meeting was indeed necessary in each  of the weeks that had been pencilled in, in the 
light of the work that needed to be  done and the prospects for progress. 
56. The representative of Israel  noted that it might be difficult for Israel to participate, particularly 
with the input of capital-based offi cials, in the week of 6-10 October 2009.  In response, the Chairman  
noted his understanding that the problem for Israel would arise particularly from 9 October onward, 
and indicated that the Committee would take this into account. 
57. The Committee agreed  to proceed as the Chairman had proposed. 
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